Friday, June 1, 2012

Trucks In Dover Go Live On SPEED

Miles the Monster was out working on track conditions at Dover on Thursday. He was preparing for the first of three days of racing to come. Thanks to the Speedway PR staff for the pic.

It's been years of complaining for fans who followed the Friday Dover truck series race on Twitter, Facebook and the various NASCAR websites. Since the facility has no lights, the race was actually run in the late afternoon and then aired on a tape-delayed basis in the evening on SPEED.

Needless to say, there was a lot of frustration that SPEED just simply did not air the race live at 5PM and then re-air it that night as scheduled. This year, the network and NASCAR decided to do just that.

Social media is sweeping through NASCAR like nothing before. All elements of the sport have been working hard to see just what new opportunities exist for the use of real time technology in getting information out to the fan base. Tracks, drivers, teams and sponsors have been working hard.

One result of all this information is that tape-delayed or time-shifted NASCAR TV programs have been exposed. In the past, SPEED would just list the truck race as airing at 8:30PM and fans would tune in. The hardcore fans would read the websites and get the results in advance.

These days more and more people have smart phones in their pocket that connect in a flash to streams of sports information. It's virtually impossible to hide things like the time-shifted Sprint Cup Series banquet, qualifying shows or K&N races. It's absolutely impossible for the three national touring series.

SPEED made a solid decision and should not suffer in the evening ratings. Working folks like us will tune-in Friday night when we get home regardless of whether the actual race was telecast live or not. Simply opening the TV window for those able to watch live makes all the sense in the world.

Krista Voda hosts the pre-race show. Rick Allen, Michael Waltrip and Phil Parsons will call the race. Ray Dunlap and Hermie Sadler are the pit reporters. Once again keep an eye on the style of the director as he works to show the largest group of trucks racing and continues to use wider camera shots to keep the racing perspective for the fans at home.

This SPEED production team has constantly delivered a quality product on limited resources and manpower. There is just something to be said for using the TV equipment that is needed to show a race instead of using all the TV equipment possible to show a race.

This post will serve to host your comments on the truck series race from Dover. To add your opinion about the SPEED team before, during or after the telecast just click the comments button. Thanks for stopping by.

It is good the Trucks are running live, but I am also pleased there is a break and then they are running the tape because I cannot watch it live. I'll just do what I always have done in this type of situation: I won't look at anything or listen to anything between 5pm and 8pm that may contain a spoiler. :)

It's great to have the choice. I've inadvertently read the results in the past without wanting to see them before viewing the race. I've also had it go the other way where I wanted to enhance the viewing experience by monitoring Twitter during the race but found the race had already been run.

I love SPEED's coverage mainly because of the camera director. I leave feeling I've seen the race.

It's a shame Harvick is in this race because he's untouchable as usual. I wouldn't mind the Cup vs. Regulars storyline if the regulars could actually compete with the Cup guys. It's a little disappointing how off the regulars are today. At least Dover is getting the crashfest they promoted.

SPEED has done a fantastic job with the pictures and monitoring the weather. The director is showing the best racing on the track instead of following the guy with the ball. The cameras are wide, the onboard cameras are barely used under the green flag. We get a glimpse of all the drivers, regardless of popularity - from Harvick in first to Jeb Burton's damaged truck in 24th.

After I expressed my opinion, the truck regulars made me eat my words. Looks like Bodine will win this, which is great for Bodine. He would have been rideless if he was released instead of King.

SPEED did a great job today as usual. Michael got a little overboard in the end, raving about Good Year and praising the heavens he was part of the broadcast team. SPEED captures the trackside energy so well, you just feel the energy of the race through the tv. The simplicity of the broadcast, just presenting the series for what it is without bells and whistles, transfers to the viewers at home and makes SPEED the best.

Rhea here...I didn't see all of the race, coming in at about lap 50. What I saw was wide shots that showed several trucks at one time. The sweeping cameras really illustrated the size and banking at the track. Even able to see the many empty seats! I heard reasonable, intelligent comments from the booth. The pit road reporters did a professional job. I appreciated them taking the opportunity to interview the drivers while the trucks were parked due to rain. There didn't seem to be near as many commercials as we normally see during Sprint Cup races. All in all, an enjoyable experience. It will make the next broadcast featuring Jaws that much more painful to listen to. And Fox will once again refuse to show me a race. They will show me plenty of ads though.